According to a report from Page Six, Graham Sierota’s family, the drummer who was outed for sending direct messages to Travis Barker’s 13-year-old daughter on social media, came out in defense of Mr. Sierota, describing the context for his behavior and actions.

In a statement to Page Six on Friday night, the family of the Echosmith drummer said that he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and he, therefore, has trouble comprehending certain social cues.

His family stated that his attempts to reach out to her weren’t malicious and that the supposed media mischaracterizations were particularly harmful and not entirely close to the truth.

As it was previously reported, Alabama Parker, Travis Barker’s 13-year-old child, outed Mr. Sieorta on Instagram with several screenshotted messages from him. Alabama posted a message conversation in which he was inviting her out to parties and BBQs, also showing that the messages go back years.

Mr. Barker said to reporters from The Blast that when he found out a 20-year-old man was messaging his 13-year-old girl, he felt “disgusted” by it, describing Mr. Graham’s messages as both predatory and “not cool at all.”

Moreover, in the same statement, Mr. Sierota’s family claimed that Graham had invited many people through Instagram to their social gatherings, including Christmas gatherings and other social events. According to the Sieorta family, athletes, artists, and models would show up regularly.

Furthermore, they claim Graham has an optimistic and cheery view of the world and wants “everyone to feel included.” The screenshotted messages from Graham showed him sending “hi” to her on a number of occasions and receiving no response in return.

Finishing off their statement, the Sierota family claimed Graham’s actions were misinterpreted by the media and the general culture. Graham invited Alabama to a family BBQ in which there were many other people attending.

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For the most part, the reaction on social media has been mixed, with some accusing Graham of being predatory, while others took issue with the way the 13-year-old girl portrayed herself on social media.